It saw exciting new releases from the likes of Diana Tamblyn (From the Earth to Babylon) and Marwan El Nashar (Jinn Warriors), as well as the launch of an undergraduate graphic-novel course at Brescia University College taught by professor and comic fan Dominick Grace.

Other creators with ties to London and Southwestern Ontario were also active: Jeff Lemire launched Trillium, a limited sci-fi series that was definitely a highlight of 2013.

While the mainstream comic companies seem to be locked in a slow slide to irrelevance, inventive young talents like Lemire show there is plenty of life left in the medium.

There were other things to get excited about.

For starters, this year saw the return of Astrodog, everyone’s favourite lunar crime-fighting canine (you can read his adventures on the website of SillWill Studios).

And one of the major selling points of True Patriot, an anthology of new Canadian superhero stories, was the chapter illustrated by Fanshawe College-trained artist Andy Belanger.

Just over the border in Michigan, David Petersen released what might have been the year’s best graphic novel, The Black Axe, which is the latest instalment in the Mouse Guard series.

And getting back to Grace, he finished the year by releasing another in his series of hard-cover interview collections with major Canadian graphic-novel creators, this one featuring profiles of Chester Brown. (More on that one in a future column.) An earlier one this year featured Dave Sim. Can a book devoted to Seth be far off?

The retail scene also thrived, with stores like Ü ber Cool Stuff moving to stock even more titles and, not to blow my own horn, but the monthly graphic-novel book club I moderate in the basement of L.A. Mood picked up several new members, injecting new life and ideas into our discussions.

Don’t let anyone tell you London is a boring place.

The Forest City is at the centre of the graphic-novel world and I’m betting it stays that way for a long time to come.